Once again, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers have been booted out in the first round of the playoffs. This marks their fifth first-round exit in eight seasons. Clearly, there's something wrong with the team. They've been stuck in a mid-tier status for so long that it's getting depressing.

The thing about the Trail Blazers is that they can't just press the reset button and break the team-up. They have the dynamic duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum who are well-within their primes. The sensible thing to do to enter the offseason with the main goal of building around them.

To do this, they need to identify certain inherent weaknesses in their play style. They have a lot of statistics and games to look at. To help them, we've culled what we think are the three massive weaknesses of the Trail Blazers they need to address for next season.

Too Reliant on Damian Lillard

Lillard's heroics sure does provide tons of entertainment for the legion of basketball fans. However, from a perspective that basketball is a strategic and tactical endeavor centered on team play, the Trail Blazers' overreliance on Lillard seems to be their main weakness. A quick look at the statistics proves this. As for one, the Trail Blazers turn to isolation plays 10.2 percent of the time in the regular season. This ranked first in the NBA. Giving the ball to Lillard and letting him work makes absolute sense. But clearly, this type of offense isn't built for the long run. Sooner or later, defenses will figure you out.

As in the case of the Brooklyn Nets who rely on lots of iso ball, it usually leads to openings and a good number of assists. However, this isn't the case for the Trail Blazers who were the worst in the league in assists in the regular season with just 21.3 per game. It's certainly a shocking stat especially since the Blazers have some pretty good scorers in their squad. The Trail Blazers seem to have forgotten that basketball is a team sport.

Everyone should chip in.

Never a Consistent Defensive Team

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The Houston Rockets invested heavily into Fred VanVleet during the 2023 offseason. Houston gave the point guard a three-year, $128 million deal in a move that was meant to turn the Rockets from a rebuilding team into a championship contending one. The signing did just that, as the Rockets finished the 2024-25 regular season as the two-seed in a stacked Western Conference. VanVleet was the veteran presence and 3-point shooter that the team desperately needed, and he still might have a role with the Rockets going forward. Houston has a team option on his contract for next year, and they very well may pick it up. The Wichita State product reportedly wants to stay in Houston, but the point guard would be set to make over $44 million next season under his current contract. The Rockets and their guard recently pushed back the deadline on Houston's decision with VanVleet, and although reports suggest that they are interested in writing up a new, long-term deal, it isn't necessarily a guarantee that VanVleet will be playing for Houston next year. The Rockets blew him away with an offer he couldn't refuse back in 2023, and another team could so the same when/if he hits the open market this offseason. If VanVleet does become an unrestricted free agent, which teams outside of Houston would make the most sense for him to sign with? 1. Orlando Magic Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner recently signed big deals with the Orlando Magic, and Paolo Banchero will be getting a mega contract extension here soon. Because of that, the Magic no longer have money to blow like they have had in recent years. That will make a deal for another big ticket free agent hard to pull off, especially considering the team signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope last year. If Orlando can make the money work, though, then Fred VanVleet would be a great fit with the Magic. The Magic finished dead last in 3-point shooting this season, and VanVleet has made at least 2.5 deep balls per game in every season since 2018-19. VanVleet can hit shots form behind the arc off of the bounce or in catch-and-shoot situations. The Rockets were heavily reliant on his shooting expertise, so the guard would have plenty of familiarity getting up deep shots with high volume if he signed with the Magic. While undersized, VanVleet is a pesky defender, so he'd fit right in with a Magic team that has one of the best defensive units in the league. VanVleet could play alongside Suggs and give opposing teams fits. Ultimately, though, the Magic just need more shooting to get to the next level, and VanVleet is arguably the best shooter who could be available on the open market this offseason. 2. Brooklyn Nets A more realistic option for a VanVleet destination would be the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are set up to have the most cap space this offseason, and they have a major need at point guard. With D'Angelo Russell and De'Anthony Melton hitting free agency this offseason, the Nets don't have a true point guard under contract for next season. Brooklyn needs to spend big this offseason, and they'd be smart to offer VanVleet a contract big enough that he'd have no choice but to leave Houston. VanVleet averaged 14.1 points per game last season, which was his lowest mark since 2018-19. He is trending the wrong way, but he still has enough left in the tank to give the Nets a few good seasons. 3. Portland Trail Blazers In the same way that the Rockets were looking to take the next step in 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers could use VanVleet's presence to get over the hump. The Trail Blazers have plenty of big man depth, as centers Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, and Duop Death are all under contract next season. Portland also has a lot of wing depth. Deni Advija started to look like a star late this past season, Toumani Camara is an elite defender, Shaedon Sharpe is a freakish athlete, and Jerami Grant is a proven scorer. The team is thinner in the backcourt, though. Anfernee Simons is a solid scorer, but Scoot Henderson has looked like a fringe draft bust since being drafted third overall. Portland shouldn't give up on Henderson completely, but there wouldn't be any harm in signing another guard. Like the Magic, the Blazers were one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA. VanVleet would improve that weakness, and in a stacked Western Conference, Portland needs all of the help they can get if they are to compete for a playoff spot.
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The Trail Blazers were the second-worst defensive team in the 2020-21 NBA regular season with a 115.3 rating. Last season, they ranked 27th, 16th in 2018-19, sixth in 2017-18, 22nd in 2015-16. This shows that Terry Stotts can come up with a stellar defensive playbook as seen in their performance in the 2017-18 season. However, it seems that defense has never been his strong suit. If you're a lifelong NBA fan, you know how the adage goes: defense wins championships. During their title runs, the Golden State Warriors were among the best defensive teams in the league. Not everyone noticed it because of Stephen Curry's dazzling display. The same goes for LeBron James' title runs with the Miami Heat. In fact, just look up any championship team and their defensive rating.

In addition, this also proves how vastly different the regular season is from the playoffs. The Trail Blazers under Stotts have made the playoffs eight straight times. They're a decent team in the regular season. Come the postseason, the Blazers get slapped down usually in the first round. Of course, there are many reasons for his. But the most apparent one is their lack of defense. It's in the postseason where teams have ample time to figure you out and build counters.

Terry Stotts

All these weaknesses point to one thing: head coach Terry Stotts and his coaching staff. The Trail Blazers possess a very capable group: they have two stars in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum who are surrounded by veterans like Carmelo Anthony, Norman Powell, Jusuf Nurkic, Enes Kanter, among others. But for some reason, Stotts hasn't found a way how to maximize his players' talents.

There were whispers surrounding Stotts's future last season after the Blazers had to participate in the play-in tourney to qualify for the playoffs. Some believed the front office was about to sack him. Yet the Blazers kept their faith and kept them in the fold. And Stotts did some work by leading his team to a better regular-season record and an easy ticket to the playoffs.

But after another early exit, the front office should by now have realized that the Stotts era must come to a close. He's done a good job in his nine-year tenure, leading the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances. He is definitely a good coach. But the Blazers need a great coach if they want to win the title. Damian Lillard, one of the best talents we've seen, isn't getting any younger. They need to take make it work in the next two to three years.